Spielberg returns to another examination of humanity and history with his 1997 film Amistad. Based on an actual event in 1839, the film explores a revolt of Mende captives aboard the Spanish ship La Amistad. When the captives take over the ship they demand that the surviving crew take them back to Africa, but instead,…
Tag: law
Tank (1984) – Marvin J. Chomsky
1984. A few short months before my family would be posted to a new home in the middle of the ocean, I was of an age that I was allowed to go see movies in the theatre with my friends (despite the fact that the theatres were in the city proper and not on the…
Outland (1981) – Peter Hyams
Peter Hyams writes and directs this galactic update of the classic western, High Noon, that sees Sean Connery stepping into the Gary Cooper role of a lone marshall awaiting the arrival of men who are coming to kill him. With a visual look that seems to marry it with the universe of Alien (aided by…
Sudden Impact (1983) – Clint Eastwood
Lalo Schifrin returns to score Dirty Harry’s next adventure which sees Eastwood not only starring as Dirty Harry Callahan, but serves as the film’s producer and director. After causing more problems for the city brass, and not following the law in his own investigations, Harry is assigned to a homicide case that will get him…
Pickup on South Street (1953) – Samuel Fuller
Jean Peters sizzles in this spy/crime film noir that is another film mentioned in Philip Kemp’s Movies book. It also falls into the category of how had I never heard of this film before? As it ticks a lot of my boxes, spies, film noir… it’s a corker! Candy (Peters) is on the subway, and…
Star Trek: Prime Directive (1990) – Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens
The Human Adventure continues on my book shelf this week as I delve into another Trek novel. This one is written by the Reeves-Stevens who would later move onto writing for the Enterprise series. Set during The Original Series and the original five year mission, the story opens after a very dramatic event, and we…
Infernal Affairs (2002) – Andrew Lau Wai-Keung, and Alan Mak
DK Canada’s The Movie Book rolls out the What Else to Watch list following my screening of Oldboy. Infernal Affairs is up for viewing, and served as the basis for the North American adaptation, The Departed. Yes, The Departed is a solid film, the original is so much better. Tightly edited, fantastically crafted the film…
True Grit (2010) – Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
DK Canada’s The Movie Book brings me another classic Coen Brothers film as I explore the What Else to Watch list following the recommendation of Fargo. My curiosity was piqued when I first heard about the idea that the Coen Brothers were going to remake the iconic western that originally starring John Wayne, with one…
Miami Vice (1989) – Victims of Circumstance, and World of Trouble
We’re coming up on the end of the series, in fact Victims of Circumstance was the last episode aired before the series finale. But as mentioned previously, I will move to the lost episodes first and then close out the series with Freefall the way it was meant to be. This one was penned by…
Werewolf in a Girl’s Dormitory (1961) – Paolo Heusch
It’s time for another hairy werewolf movie as I continue to delve into DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies book. This time around, the entry, Werewolf in a Girl’s Dormitory, is a bit of a letdown, considering it’s rife with exploitation potential. An Italian film that was dubbed for its North American release the story…
The Mind Reels 